Orphen: The New Beginning
by Ryuu Kayne
Summary: The Tower of Fang is under siege by a mysterious sorcerer named Zain.Recipients in the Tower live in terror by what he will do next.Friends are reunited to thwart Zain's evil plan.but will they stop him in time?
1. From the Top

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, so my first version of this chapter wasn't as good as I thought it was. I was kind of having an idea clog that day. I ended up not being able to think up the next part of my fic with the original storyline. But, hey, even great writers have slow days (mine just happened to be on my first day). So those who read the first version, I apologize (claps hands together and bows). And once again, I do not own any of the Orphen characters.  
  
  
  
So here it is; the new version of "New Beginning":  
  
  
  
  
  
ORPHEN: THE NEW BEGINNING  
  
CHAPTER 01:  
  
FROM THE TOP  
  
  
  
  
  
We join Orphen and the others a week from where the series left off. They are traveling to Alenhatan via a wagon, where Stephanie has written a letter that says they need to get back as soon as possible.  
  
  
  
  
  
"So Stephanie didn't specifically say way she wrote the letter?" asked Cleao. "No, she just said that she had something to tell us and that was all" replied Orphen. Majic, trying to find someplace to sit comfortably in the back with Cleao's entire luggage, said," That sounds a little unlike her though doesn't it? She usually gives us more information than that". "Nah, we can trust her, she probably just wants to surprise us" Orphen answered. 'The fact that she's a man was all the surprise I needed from her', thought Cleao with disgust.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Tell me why we are doing this again, Volkan?" asked Dortin from a bush nearby Orphen's wagon. "Because, they are no doubt heading toward some kind of treasure and when they get there we'll be there to claim it for ourselves." answered Volkan simply. "And just what makes you think we're going to be able to do when Orphen finds out we're trying to take this so called 'treasure' they're supposedly after?" said Dortin. "Easy, all we have to do is sneak up on them and beat Orphen down while he's surprised" said Volkan as-a-matter-of-factly. Dortin got a sweat drop on his head.  
  
  
  
  
  
Just then, Orphen heard a noise on the side of the path. 'All right, it's been long enough now' he thought. "You two can come out now!" Orphen yelled. "Who are you talking to, Master?" Majic asked. "Oh, you'll see." replied Orphen. Majic had a puzzled look on his face, until he heard a nearby bush speaking and shaking. "Ah, no one?" said a high-pitched voice from inside the leaves. "You idiot! Now they definitely know we're in here!" yelled a rougher sounding voice. This continued until Majic noticed that Orphen was no longer in the cart. He looked around and saw that his Master had already circled around the bush.  
  
  
  
  
  
Volkan and Dortin continued their ranting until they noticed a big shadow on the ground, dwarfing both of them (which don't take much doing). "Uh, hi Orphen." the troll brothers said nervously.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Lai sat deep in concentration in his meditation chamber located well into the very belly of the Tower of Fang until he sensed a disturbance of great magnitude.  
  
  
  
  
  
'There is an evil force on the move' Lai thought. He rushed as quickly as he could to tell the Elders of the latest results of his divining. After many apologies to students and masters alike, he finally reached the chamber of the Elders of Fang. When he walked into the dark and dreary room that was the chamber he saw the Elders in their black robes, with the only way to actually see them coming from the light shining through the stain glass windows behind them.  
  
But there was another there, one that Lai did not recognize. An aged man, no doubt clear in his 60s, body bent over with age, only supported by a large oaken staff. He wore a gray cloak and hood, shadowing most of his face. The only thing that Lai could make out was a large scar on the left side of his face, running up and down the length of his whole head.  
  
  
  
  
  
"What is it Lai?" asked one of the elders. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were busy, I come back later" replied Lai. 'It feels like that dark force is coming from that man, but how can that be? Surely I would have felt his presence in the Tower before he made it this far inside?' Lai thought. He walked outside the chamber and laid himself flat against the wall to listen into the Elder's conversation.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Why are you here Zain?" asked an Elder. "You must have not forgotten that you have been banished from the Tower forever, have you?" 'Sorcerer Zain!!?? But he left the Tower 10 years ago, when he was only 18 years old! How could he have aged so much in so little time?' Lai thought to himself. "I figured it had been so long since I had seen my 'beloved' Elders that I thought I would stop by for a visit," said Zain with sarcasm. "Do not bore us with your pleasantries Zain, what is the real reason you have come?" an Elder said with a sneer. Zain smiled, and the last thing the Elder's saw was a sphere of dark magic.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The two troll brothers were thrown from the bush into the hard, sandy path. "Okay, so what are you two doing following us around for a week?" asked Orphen. Volkan brushed sand off his tattered cloak. "Huh, like we would tell you miscreants why", said Volkan with spite in his voice. "We were following you because Volkan thought you guys were after some sort of trea." Dortin was cut short by a punch from his hateful brother. "Don't tell them that you idiot, you'll give away my beautiful plan and then we won't be able to take their treasure" Volkan quickly covered his mouth with his hands, realizing he had just given away his 'masterful' plan away himself.  
  
  
  
  
  
"What are you talking about Volkan?" Majic asked the troll. Volkan uncovered his mouth and yelled at the group like they knew exactly what he was talking about. "Oh, don't act like you don't know, I know your after some kind of treasure and I'm going to claim it for myself, so there!" he stated. "You idiot, we're going to Alanhatan to meet up with Stephanie if you just have to know" said Orphen, now becoming impatient with the pint- sized annoyance.  
  
  
  
  
  
Volkan felt a kind of sinking feeling inside him, until he noticed a small glimmer coming from the back of Orphen's Tower of Fang necklace, the chain now repaired after the incident with Azalie. "Oh yeah! Well if you're not after any treasure, what's that on the back of your necklace!?" Volkan said pointing to the dragon necklace. "What? You mean this?" Orphen turned over his necklace to show the Jewel of Gigabrious, now embedded into the back of the pendant. "It's the Jewel of Gigabrious, I had it placed in here so that I could personally make sure no one could complete the Sword of Baltenders again and use it for the wrong purposes." Orphen replied. "Oh, really, I thought the Tower of Fang was supposed to have authority over all three of the talismans" said Volkan. "Yeah, but I don't really trust those guys with all the talismans, so I figured I'd hide it with me so it couldn't be found" Orphen said like it was nothing. "And your calling Volkan a thief?" said Cleao.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Well, anyways, just stop following us and leave us alone, before I lose my good mood" Orphen said with an antagonized face. Leki, who had been resting peacefully on Cleo's backpack, finally woke up and jumped up onto Cleo's shoulder, barking at the two trolls, remembering who they were. "Will you SHUT UP, you mangy mutt," yelled Volkan. "Hey! You can't tell him to shut up you creep!" Cleao said. "Well then why don't you shut up then" said Volcan. "Why you creep!" Cleo quickly picked up a rock and threw it as hard as she could at Volkan, knocking him down flat. Volkan quickly recovered himself and got up, VERY angry, and threw the same rock back at Cleao. Unfortunately for Volkan, the rock missed Cleao and hit Leki right in the head. Leki immediately shook his head, let out a loud growl and countered with a green blast from his eyes, leaving a smoking crater with the troll brothers right in the middle of it. "Oh, but what did I do?" muttered Dortin before he passed out. "I guess it wasn't really Orphen's temper they had to watch out for," said Majic with a smile. Orphen shook his head, "Come on, let's get going" he said. And they were off, leaving Volkan and Dortin behind, where they would hopefully stay.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Zain stood before the fallen bodies of the Elder's of Fang, cackling at their defeat. "Stubborn fools, they never even knew what they were up against, oh well, no matter" said Zain. 'No way, he defeated all of the Elders with one blast, but how is that possible? Not even Orphen has that kind of strength!' Lai thought with shock. "Sands of Time, I give to you thy lives" Zain chanted. The bodies of the Elders instantly turned to dust and circled around Zain like a tornado, enveloping him in the dust's veil. As the dust cleared, it was almost as if Lai saw a completely different person. A young man, wearing the same clothes as the old sorcerer had been wearing, now replaced the old, decrepit form of a man. Long, dull, silver hair draped his head, pulled back so the widow's peak was visible. His eyes, so cold and deep, seemed able to see through a person's soul. His skin was so pale it looked as if he might have died a week ago. The scar that had been on the old sorcerer's wrinkled face now ran along this young ones face, but looked more recent.  
  
  
  
  
  
Lai couldn't believe what he was seeing, 'How could this be possible?' he thought, 'Just seconds before he had been struggling on an old oak staff, now he stands up tall and straight as if he had just drunk from the Fountain of Youth.' Zain threw away the wooden staff and let out an evil, menacing laugh, and left, in a flash. With Lai left to puzzle over what had happened.  
  
  
  
  
  
END CHAPTER 01  
  
  
  
  
  
FOOT NOTE: I think anyone who read my first work will agree this version is much better. I'll try to get the next chapters up as soon as possible. I want to also thank Lady Ivy Castillo for her nice review. D-chan, thank you for the ideas and comments, I also thought my last one needed serious work, but I was having some problems that really messed up the look of the text, and I was a little rushed to try and finish it. As for Zain's hair and eyes, I couldn't think of anything that could really fit the character's, well, character. Also, don't worry; Lai will still be used in the next chapters, too. But any more flames like that will be contributed for roasting marshmallows. ^^ 


	2. Return of the Killing Doll

***WARNING***If you haven't already checked my revised first chapter, read it or you'll have no idea what's going on.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I finally have a good plot figured out with my new version of chapter 1. I can now continue without writing the same chapter over again until I get it right. Of course, my stories might still need work, so I would prefer it if you would review it for me and point out my mistakes. Once again, I don't own anything from the story (except maybe Zain). So I don't want to be caught for copyrighting.  
  
And now, the next chapter:  
  
ORPHEN: THE NEW BEGINNING  
  
CHAPTER 02:  
  
THE RETURN OF THE KILLING DOLL  
  
Deep in the ruins of Alanhatan, a familiar terror plots its revenge.  
  
"HE approaches" a distorted voice said to itself. "SO IT WILL NOW begin!" the rocky face gave an empty smile.  
  
***  
  
Lai finally recovered from his state of shock and is now running through the Halls of Fang, yelling.  
  
"The Elders have been killed! The Elders have been killed!" shouted Lai, all the students and Masters on the floor could hear Lai's cries. So of course Hartia heard.  
  
"Lai, what is the matter?" Hartia asked while shaking the crazed seer.  
  
"The Elders.the Elders were bested by the sorcerer Zain" replied Lai.  
  
"What!? But he was banished 10 years ago, why has he returned" asked Hartia, almost losing his balance by the surprise.  
  
"Yes, but he has returned, and he was able to beat the Elders with a single spell" replied Lai.  
  
Lai could see the fear in Hartia's eyes, it worried him. But all the Master said was,"Gather all the Masters in the Room of Gathering, we'll talk about this matter there", and Hartia left, leaving Lai to his new duty.  
  
***  
  
Orphen and his group have finally made to Stephanie's hometown of Alanhatan, where they will find a disturbing image.  
  
"Almost there!" said Orphen cheerfully. "Just over this hill and we'll be in Alanhatan."  
  
"Finally, we can find out the little mystery Stephanie wants to tell us!" said Cleao with an impatient tone in her voice.  
  
"Oh my God!" whispered Majic. "Look!"  
  
The city of Alanhatan was completely destroyed. There was nothing but rubble left from the once great buildings. Fires still burned from the recent destruction. Black smoke climbed above the city in great plumes. It was utter and complete chaos.  
  
"Who the hell could have done this?" said Orphen in a ghastly voice.  
  
When they drove into the city, it was no better. Bodies littered the streets. Parents cried over lost children, children cried over lost parents. But through it all, one voice rang through the group's ears.  
  
"Where is Stephanie!? Has anyone seen my wife Stephanie!?" the voice shouted.  
  
"Hey, Tim, overhear" yelled Orphen. Tim, remembering Stephanie's friends, ran over to them.  
  
"Have you seen Stephanie? I've looked everywhere, but I can't find her, please tell me you know where she is!" he said on his knees.  
  
Orphen, steadying Tim by his shoulders, said calmly, "Calm down, we just got here, we haven't seen Stephanie yet, what happened here".  
  
"Oh, no! Where could she be? All right, there's a shelter a block away from here, I'll tell you everything there", Tim said, finally on his feet after escaping Orphen's tight grasp.  
  
Later, at the shelter, Orphen found out all he needed to know.  
  
"WHAT! The stone gargoyles are the ones that attacked you!?" exclaimed Majic.  
  
"That's right; they took us by complete surprise. I never saw Stephanie during any of the attack, wait a minute, do you think they could of taken her with them!?" said Tim, now worrying over all the things that could have happened to his wife.  
  
"Well I guess that settles it then" Orphen said, very seriously.  
  
"What do you mean, Master?" Majic asked.  
  
"Who do you think has the power to raise those stone statues?" Orphen asked as if the answer was obvious.  
  
"You don't mean." Cleao gasped out.  
  
"That's right, the Killing Doll has returned" Orphen said almost at a whisper, clenching his fist.  
  
***  
  
In the forests near Alenhaten, two trolls are recovering from a certain blue wolf.  
  
"Oh, when I get my hands on that mutt, he's gonna wish he never heard the name Volkan", moaned Volkan, struggling to balance on a stick he found.  
  
"And just what do you think you can do against a wolf with supernatural powers, you can't even handle Cleao" stated Dortin, trying to drag behind Volkan, not having a stick of his own to balance on.  
  
"By the way, it's my turn to use the stick and you know it!" Dortin complained, pointing accusingly to his brother.  
  
"Really, well I'm the one who found it so I should get extra time with it" said Volkan, pointing his nose up in the air.  
  
"What!? That's not fair!" screeched Dortin  
  
"Of course it is, and that's final!" Volkan said. He hit the ground with his stick, as if reinforcing his decision. Unfortunately, the ground collapsed beneath him, swallowing him up before Dortin's eyes.  
  
"Ah! Volkan" yelled Dortin, running as fast as he could to try and save his big brother.  
  
But Volkan had been saved by the stick sticking between the gap in the hole, barely holding Volkan, and Volkan barely holding it.  
  
"Boy, that's lucky!" exclaimed Dortin.  
  
"What are you doing just standing there, help me up!" screamed Volkan.  
  
The stick was starting to break, when Dortin reached his hand out to help. Just when Dortin had a hold of Volkan, the stick broke, and Volkan and Dortin fell down the deep hole.  
  
When the trolls woke up, they found themselves deep within the ruins of Alanhatan.  
  
"Where the hell are we?" Volkan groaned, trying to get to his feet.  
  
"THE ONES WHO betrayed ME, IT seems I MAY HAVE A use FOR YOU" a mysterious voice said.  
  
They both looked behind them where the voice had come from, starting to recognize the creepy voice. Volkan and Dortin took one look at the green aura around the creature and knew exactly who it was.  
  
***  
  
Lai had called the reluctant Masters from there rooms before the sun had even risen, and Hartia has called the meeting to order.  
  
"Silence! I ask for silence!" yelled out Hartia, slamming his fist down on the podium his was standing behind. The ivory walls of the room reverberated from the force of his fist against the stone.  
  
The Masters who had been chatting about what the meeting could be about what was going on suddenly stopped. Knowing that it must be something very important if Hartia could be so angry as to slam his fist.  
  
"I know that you are wondering why I have called this meeting so early in the morning, and some of you may already know" Hartia said very seriously. All the Masters grumbled there agreement.  
  
"The truth is that the Elders of Fang have been killed" said Hartia, hating having to say the sentence. His fist were snow white, he was clenching his fist so tight.  
  
All the Masters who were unaware of what had happened gasped in surprise. Those who knew remained silent, solemnly shaking there heads.  
  
"Please, I know that this is sad news, but we must remain calm if we are to avenge their deaths" Hartia replied calmly.  
  
"And just how do you propose to do that" a voice said coldly from the back of the room.  
  
"Who said that?" Hartia said frighteningly, having a pretty good idea who it was, but wanting so much to be wrong.  
  
But Lai didn't have to think, he knew exactly who it was. "It's Zain, the one who killed the Elders" said Lai, pointing his finger straight at the evil sorcerer. His face was of pure fear.  
  
"Bravo, what gave me away?" Zain said, clapping his hands mockingly, "Oh, and don't point, it's very rude." He was slowly walking up the aisle toward Hartia.  
  
He was now clothed differently. He wore a black tunic of fine silk, with matching black pants. Leather boots lined with brilliant jewels were at his feet. And at his side, a golden rapier was sheathed in a silver buckle belt.  
  
"You know? The Tower of Fang treasure room is one of the best I've ever seen" Zain said, admiring his new clothing" You couldn't find better antiques in a noble's closet".  
  
"How did you get in there? There are guards posted all around it!" asked Hartia, scared of the things Zain might have done.  
  
"Oh, really? I wouldn't have noticed!" replied Zain, throwing his head up and laughing menacingly.  
  
"You! Check the treasure room and tell me what happened" Hartia yelled to a nearby Master, who was just happy to get away from the presence of the powerful Zain.  
  
"Now, why are you here Zain" asked Hartia, switching back to his serious look, but shacking with a hidden fear.  
  
"Do you really have to ask, revenge of course, for being banished" said Zain obviously, shrugging his shoulders.  
  
"You have already gotten your revenge on the Elders, you must be here for another reason" said Hartia. He knew Zain wouldn't still be here if he had just come back for a change of clothes he would already have left.  
  
Zain raised a hand and pointed to the hallway outside the room. Everyone behind him cowered down, afraid that he might cast a spell that would destroy him. "Isn't that what you sent your messenger for?" Zain said coldly.  
  
Zain turned on his heels and walked toward the door, while the Master who had been sent to the treasure room returned, walking along the walls to avoid Zain.  
  
Zain all of a sudden stopped and leaned against the doorway. "Head Master, the Sword of Baltanders and the Bracelet of Nomafrozis have been stolen!" screamed the Master. "Is that what those little treasures are called?" said Zain, walking back into the hallway.  
  
"What! Lai assemble all the guards and have them go after him, he can't get away!" exclaimed Hartia.  
  
Lai was shocked back to reality by Hartia's scream. "Yes sir" he hurried to complete his job.  
  
Hartia now knew what it felt like to know true fear.  
  
***  
  
Orphen and the rest of the group were at the coliseum where the Killing Doll was originally destroyed.  
  
"What are we doing here, Master?" questioned Majic, looking through the pile of rubble that was now what was left of the coliseum.  
  
"Looking for anything that might give us a clue where the Killing Doll might be" replied Orphen, also searching through the old wreck of the building.  
  
Cleao was looking among the pillars when she noticed green symbols on one of the pillars. She was staring closely at them when she noticed that they were sorcerer runes. "Orphen, you might want to take a look at this!" yelled Cleao.  
  
Orphen and Majic hurried over to the place Cleao indicated. He read the runes closely, deciphering what the Killing Doll's was.  
  
"The Killing Doll's tomb! That's where we'll find him." Orphen yelled out, already hurrying to get there as fast as he could.  
  
They arrived to the ruins of the Heavenly Ones to find nothing but rubble.  
  
"Ah! Where is he?" Orphen yelled, getting very annoyed by the Killing Doll's tricks. Orphen looked over to the chamber where the Killing Doll was risen from. 'This is the place' he thought 'so where is the Killing Doll, where else could he-'  
  
Orphen's thoughts were cut short by the ground opening up, swallowing him, Majic, and Cleao.  
  
They ended up in some underground ruins, and standing right in the middle was, the Killing Doll, sitting on a throne of stone.  
  
"YOU HAVE finally ARRIVED" the Killing Doll said in its usual eerie voice.  
  
"How could you have survived? I know I destroyed you!" exclaimed Orphen, fist clenched.  
  
"YES, YOU DID destroy MY body" explained the Killing Doll," BUT, MY creators ALSO LEFT A backup IN CASE I HAD BEEN destroyed" the Killing Doll smiled. "BUT, THIS body IS MUCH weaker THAN MY last" he continued," so I WAS forced TO GET MY power FROM another source" the Killing Doll lowered Stephanie, Volkan, and Dortin from the ceiling with some sort of tentacles. The Killing Doll rose from his throne to show the many tubes stuck to his back, pumping a green liquid supplying him with power. "BUT MY revenge COULD NOT BE complete UNTIL I COULD destroy YOU, SO I faked A LETTER TO YOU TO lure YOU here" again he smiled. "I USED the STONE gargoyles TO GET YOU TO come" he showed no emotion even after explaining his vile deed. "AND NOW THAT I have YOU, I WILL obliterate YOU!" The many runes that are written throughout the body of the Killing Doll began to glow green.  
  
"You bastard!" yelled Orphen "Cleao, Majic get away from here!" The two blondes ran behind a giant pile of stones to hide. "Now it's just you and me, Sword of Light, Whom I do Release!" Orphen chanted.  
  
The purple ball of light fired toward the Killing Doll. But the Killing Doll activated a rune and created a shield spell to block the attack.  
  
'Damn! This might be harder than I thought' thought Orphen.  
  
***  
  
Zain walked carelessly out to the courtyard, where dozens of nervous sorcerers were waiting for him.  
  
Zain looked all around him, he was completely surrounded, but he was not scared. "So, you wish to stop me" he said," Well, give it your best shot!"  
  
Just then, hundreds of fire spells shot forth, creating an blinding inferno. But when the smoke cleared, Zain remained unscathed, having used a powerful shield spell at the last minute.  
  
"Is this the best the Tower of Fang has to offer?" he asked the shocked sorcerers. "Pathetic" he said. He raised his hand, creating a ball of black magic that pulsed in his palm.  
  
The sorcerers gulped in fear, wondering what spell he was going to use.  
  
"Freeze!" Zain said, and a giant black dome of magic covered the courtyard, freezing anything in its path. When the spell was finished, the frozen statues of the guards and some trees were all that was left.  
  
Hartia and Lai could only watch in horror at what had happened, at how easy Zain had beaten some of the best students of the Tower.  
  
Zain left through the frozen gates and vanished without a word. The sun rose, and the statues slowly began to melt.  
  
"Lai, do you know where Krylancelo is?" asked Hartia, knowing the true depth of Zain's power.  
  
"Yes, I have sensed his presence in the city of Alanhatan" replied Lai. Hartia stood in thought for a moment.  
  
"Try to free the guards before they die, there is only one choice now" said Hartia, and left Lai without even a good-bye.  
  
Hartia was now on the mystical transporter, wearing an old costume, and holding a familiar weapon. He waved his hand across the relic and said," Alanhatan" and was gone in a flash.  
  
***  
  
Orphen continues his struggle with the Killing Doll, now hiding to try and take him by surprise.  
  
"YOU KNOW THAT YOU CANNOT hide FROM me FOREVER orphen" the Killing Doll said maliciously, looking around the dank and old chamber to find Orphen.  
  
Orphen was hiding behind the throne the Killing Doll was sitting on before and decided how to attack. "Blade of the Descending Demon, that I do Carry!" Orphen cried out, running from behind the throne. His target was the tubes behind the Killing Doll that supplied the Killing Doll with his power. But the Killing Doll had seen him coming, and was ready. He touched a rune on his right arm and fired a massive spell at Orphen that sent him sprawling against a wall.  
  
"REVENGE WILL finally BE mine" said the Killing Doll. Orphen was still reeling from the counter-attack, holding his head to stop his head from pounding. So he couldn't notice the same rock tentacles that had already caught Stephanie and the troll brothers, and now Orphen.  
  
The Killing Doll used the tentacles to bring Orphen right in front of him. "WELL orphen, IT SEEMS I HAVE beaten YOU." the Killing Doll said "BUT I suppose I COULDN'T EXPECT MUCH OF A challenge FROM A SORCERER." Orphen looked at the Killing Doll with malice, but he knew he couldn't do anything to help himself.  
  
"NOW YOUR power SHALL NOW BE mine!" the Killing Doll exclaimed. The tentacles gave off a sudden flash and began to steal Orphen's power, while Orphen himself could only scream in pain.  
  
"Master!" yelled Majic"Don't worry Master I'm coming!" Majic had run from behind the rock pile and charged the Killing Doll after Cleao's futile attempts to stop him. Orphen winced as he struggled to say something to his apprentice.  
  
"Majic, you idiot! Get away you're no match for him!" yelled Orphen, struggling with the tentacles tough grip.  
  
"I suppose I SHOULD also TAKE CARE OF your FRIENDS" the Killing Doll said. He launched more of his tentacles toward Majic, forcing Majic run back to the rocks. But then he stopped right at the place where he had hid before, turned around and stretched his hands out.  
  
"Sword of Light, Whom I do Release" Majic yelled, and to Cleao's surprise, the spell actually destroyed all the tentacles. "Well, what'd you think I was doing at the Tower of Fang?" he said" Now let's go!" Unfortunately, the Killing Doll had summoned more of the tentacles while Majic had his back turned, and Majic ended up as a victim just like Orphen.  
  
"Majic, no!" screamed Cleao, trying to grab Majic back as he was quickly pulled toward the evil golem.  
  
"I WAS GOING TO LET YOU live, BUT I SUPPOSE I'LL HAVE TO kill YOU AS well" the Killing Doll smiled evilly. Orphen and Majic writhed in pain, losing their powers slowly, screaming in agony, until a scythe emerged from out of nowhere, cutting the tubes in the Killing Doll and freeing all of his captives and causing the Killing Doll to fall to the ground with a choking sound.  
  
Cleao looked up to the masked figure that, for once, she was happy to see. "I am the assassin of the night! I live in the dark, hiding my face by day! I am the embodiment of fear and evil! I am-" the shadowy figure was cut short.  
  
"Hey Shrimp-Man!" yelled Cleao, cupping her hand over her mouth.  
  
The Black Tiger fell from his perch on the rocky shelf in embarrassment. When he got back up he said "I thought I told you it's Black Tiger!"  
  
Cleao put her hands on her hips and regained her bossy attitude. "Whatever, cut the lame lines and help me with Orphen and the others!" she said.  
  
The Black Tiger winced from Cleao's screechy voice. "Oh, all right, but don't call me Shrimp-Man anymore" he cried.  
  
"Fine, 'Shrimpy'" Cleao said sarcastically.  
  
He groaned in aggravation.  
  
Stephanie, Volkan, and Dortin were sitting next to a wall, after coming to, but were still very weak. Orohen and Majic had regained most of their strength, so they could stand up. They all caught each other up with the going on in their lives.  
  
"So, Zain's come back has he?" said Orphen, after Hartia had told him the whole tale.  
  
"Yes, he came and killed the Elders and used some strange spell to make himself younger" replied Hartia, with his mask off.  
  
"But he should only be 28 by know, shouldn't he?" Orphen asked him, slightly puzzled.  
  
"That's something we haven't found out about yet" Hartia answered.  
  
"I don't know about the age thing" said Stephanie, still very weak," But the spell he used sounds like it comes from an old style of magic called The Sands of Time, magic that controls the very dimension of time itself." She started to try and get back up, but to no avail.  
  
"Yeah, I've heard about that, but wasn't that kind of magic banned?" asked Orphen.  
  
"Yes, it was found that the spells were too dangerous, with these kinds of powers, and his own awesome power, he can be a very dangerous foe" Stephanie explained. "But what I can't understand is why he would need the Sword of Baltanders and the Bracelet of Nomafrozis?"  
  
"Hold that thought, Volkan! Cut that out!" Volkan had gotten up and was now mocking the dead body of the Killing Doll. "Not so tough now, are you? Thought you could take on the mighty Volkan, huh, you stupid hunk of rock!" he continued.  
  
"God! Can't he just stop being annoying for a few minutes? Anyways, what's up with the getup, Hartia, I thought you were over that stupid superhero thing" asked Orphen.  
  
"I had to do something to hide my identity from any enemies that might think that with me gone they could take over the Tower of Fang" he said simply.  
  
"Come on, you know you just wanted to find an excuse to put that costume on" Orphen said jokingly, pointing at Hartia accusingly.  
  
Hartia blushed in embarrassment and everybody laughed. But just then the Killing Doll's eyes began to open, while Volkan still continued to taunt him. The Killing Doll slowly came to and grabbed Volkan by the neck, hurling him against a wall, knocking him out.  
  
"THIS IS GETTING to be VERY aggravating!" said the Killing Doll, sounding even more distorted because of his weakness. It began to raise its hands up to cast a spell. "BUT now I WILL TAKE you all OUT WITH ONE-" the Killing Doll was then split right in half by a spell from some foreign source. The two pieces of the Killing Doll fell down with a slam, and that was the end of the Killing Doll.  
  
"I got tired of the way he talked" said Zain, sitting behind where the Killing Doll was, lying horizontally in the throne.  
  
"Zain, how did you find us here?" asked Hartia on guard for anything that might happen.  
  
"Simple, I'm the one who woke the Killing Doll up" he jumped out of the throne and walked toward the group, stopping right in front of them. "But why?" Orphen angrily asked.  
  
"Another simple question, I needed a way to bring all of the players in my game together" he said coldly, one hand on his new rapier and another hanging carelessly on his side.  
  
"What are you talking about? What game?" Majic said, puzzled about what was now going on.  
  
"My own version of chess, if you will, and know that all the pawns are together, I think I'll go after the Queen" Zain replied, menace obviously present in his voice.  
  
"Who are you talking about" Orphen asked. But he was fairly sure who he was talking about.  
  
"Oh, I think you know exactly who I'm talking about" Zain said, letting out another one of his menacing laughs.  
  
But as Zain laughed, Orphen noticed something, a tear rolled down Zain's face. But not from his own laughter, it was a sorrowful tear, as if something deep down inside had broken free for a little while to express his true emotion. Orphen didn't have time to wonder about it though; Zain had again disappeared without warning.  
  
"Orphen, do you have any idea what he was talking about? Orphen?" asked Cleao, also puzzled from Zain's appearance.  
  
Orphen broke free from his thoughts to answer Majic. "Yeah, I think I do looks like it's time for us to pay an old friend a visit" he answered. And they set out to find Azalie, wherever she was.  
  
END CHAPTER 02  
  
FOOTNOTE: Geez! I finally finished this chapter after all these weeks (achoo!). Sorry it's taken so long to finish this chapter, but I've been very busy lately with homework, chores, the works (cough, cough!). Besides that, I had to go to my nephews house, which didn't leave me with much time to finish this (blows nose). But apparently, one of my nephews had a cold I didn't know about (coughs again). Now I have it (sniffle) I feel terrible. Least it got me a day off from school to finish this^_^. I promise I'll try to finish the other chapters faster (sorry Mlaine). (achoo!) If you'll excuse me, I think I'll take a nap now. Oh, and please, no flames. I don't think my stomach can take roasted marshmallows right now. ~_~ 


	3. Histories Revealed

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So chapter 2 didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to. There were a lot of other things I wanted to put into it, but I guess being sick makes miss some things you usually catch right off. I had spell check and I still made errors. Anyways, this chapter should make up for the mistakes of the last one, I hope. And once again, I don't own any of these characters from the TV series.  
  
And here it is,  
  
ORPHEN: THE NEW BEGINNING  
  
CHAPTER 03:  
  
HISTORIES REVEALED  
  
Now on the race to find out where Azalie is before Zain can, Orphen, Hartia, Majic, and Cleao are heading back to the Tower of Fang to see if Lai can divine her location. Now only a day away from the Tower, Cleao and Majic are getting curious about how Orphen knows about Zain.  
  
They were all walking in a clearing in the forests when Cleao couldn't help but ask. "You know, Orphen, you've been pretty quiet about this Zain guy" said Cleao," What exactly does he have to do with you?" But knowing Orphen, Cleao didn't exactly expect a straight answer from him.  
  
Orphen's expression went from calm to sad the second the name was mentioned. Hartia, know back in his Master's cloak instead of the Black Tiger costume, looked at his old friend, knowing exactly how he felt. "You really want to know Cleao? Are you sure?" Orphen replied, returning to his usual carefree look.  
  
"Yeah! /Yes Master!" Majic and Cleao shouted anxiously, shaking their heads in agreement.  
  
Orphen shook his head and laughed a little at how childish they seemed. Like children, about to hear a story about a brave knight who risks his life to slay a dragon and save the damsel in distress. "All right then" he pointed at a small cluster of trees in the clearing," Why don't we sit over there? It's a long story." They immediately obliged to his request and sat down.  
  
All except Hartia," If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go on ahead", he said, "I think it best if we find out about Azalie as soon as possible." He left them with a smile, hiding the fact that he really didn't want to be reminded of what happened 10 years ago.  
  
Orphen sat back against a tree, closing his eyes to remember exactly what had happened. Majic and Cleao sat across from him, cross-legged, waiting to here the story. Orphen re-opened his eyes, feeling ready to tell his story. The afternoon sun began to set, lengthening the shadows of the trees around them, as if setting the tone for the story.  
  
"All right, it was 12 years ago" Orphen began," Me and Azalie had only been at the Tower for a few months. We were beginning to get used to everything thanks to Hartia and Lai, and it wasn't long until they told us about an older sorcerer named Zain."  
  
***  
  
Not to far from the Tower of Fang's northern wall, there was a hidden cavern in a small area of forest where Zain is now hiding himself. He looks over the Sword of Baltanders and the Bracelet of Nomafrozis, set on a low lying shelf.  
  
A candle flickered as Zain wondered over a puzzling dilemma. Hand in chin, he kept thinking to himself, 'The Sword of Baltanders and the Bracelet of Nomafrozis are here, but where is the Jewel of Gigabrios? Surely it would have been somewhere near its other talismans?'  
  
But while he pondered, he noticed something about his hand. It had wrinkled into the look of raisins; he felt the lines of his face with his hand and noticed they had grown much deeper. His silver hair had gone to pure gray. "Trust the Elder's power to run out so quickly" he said to himself with a sneer. Just then, he heard the sound of rustling outside, and the sound of young voices outside.  
  
He looked up from his thinking position, and smiled. "It seems I can regain my youth quicker than I thought" he said with a chuckle. The candle flicked out for a second, and when its light illuminated the cavern again, Zain was gone.  
  
***  
  
Kyra and Shane was a couple from the Tower that everyone knew about. Kyra was a fiery red-head with lime green eyes. She's been at the Tower for 9 years and had the prospect to be a great sorceress, always a step ahead of the class.  
  
Shane was almost the exact opposite. Both his hair and eyes were coal- black, and he too had been at the Tower for 9 years but was held back his third year because he never learned to control his magic properly. They were both 18 years old. Unfortunately it seemed they chose the wrong time to 'explore' the forest.  
  
"Come on, Kyra!" Shane said," That cavern I told you about is right over here!" Shane was the risky type that liked to do things that could easily get him expelled, so he didn't think twice about going outside the Tower walls without permission. But Kyra had always been the cautious type and kept staying behind Shane and looking over her shoulder. "I don't know about this Shane, shouldn't we back at the Tower?" asked Kyra. "Our next class isn't for another hour" he said moving a low branch out of the way "No one will even know we were gone."  
  
"Yeah, but what if-what if something-bad happens to us?" Kyra replied, voice quivering. Shane turned back around to see his love, as nervous as she usually is when he talks her into these things, and smiled. He walked up to her and gave her a long embrace to comfort her.  
  
"It's all right Kyra" he whispered in her ear soothingly," You don't need to worry so much, I'll never let anything bad happen to you." Kyra blushed emotionally, trusting that Shane would live up to his word. But it ended quickly, when Shane heard Kyra gasp with shock. He turned around to see the reason for the surprise, and old man in a fine tunic was standing above the mouth of the cavern, watching them.  
  
"Who are you!? And what are you doing here?" Shane yelled. The old man smiled at Shane, "I could ask you the same question." he said, "If I remember right you're supposed to be back at the Tower at this time." The old man started at them hard, scaring both of the young adults.  
  
Shane pulled Kyra behind him to protect her. "You still didn't answer my question, who are you!?" Shane asked, now scared of this old man, not sure if he was dangerous or just trying to scare them.  
  
"Of course, maybe you heard of me, I am known as Zain!" he said intimidating. That was all Shane needed to hear, he immediately told Zain to go back to the Tower and get away. But Kyra didn't go as far as the nearest bush to hide, not wanting to leave him behind.  
  
The old Zain jumped down from the top of the cave mouth. Shane couldn't believe that an old man had that kind of agility, but knew what Zain was capable of. Zain smirked at the Shane as if he was foolish for trying to take him on. Zain spoke,"Oh, I see, you'll protect from anything right? Well let's see what you can do!" Shane was not scared; he would do anything for Kyra.  
  
Shane stood straight up, hands in a cupped position at his chest, trying to remember how to control a spell the right way, the whole time staring hatefully at Zain, knowing what damage he had done. Shane put his hands over his head, ready to launch the spell, the red glow of it all around him. He put his hands in front of him and said the words, "O, Fire" and fired the spell with perfect control.  
  
That did not help him, though. Zain stood there, waiting for the spell. He simply held one hand out and stopped the spell in mid-air. He then threw it back to Shane, barely missing him and cutting his cheek. "If that is all you can do you might as well quit now" mocked Zain. Shane was shocked, that was the most powerful spell he had ever cast and Zain had blocked it so easily.  
  
"Should I expect that you still want to go on?" asked Zain. Fire burned in Shane's eyes, he was not going to quit no matter what. "All right then" said Zain, "Powers of Darkness That I Call Forth!" A giant wave of power rushed toward Shane. He was able to put a shield up, but it only held for a few seconds. Shane fell in agony to the ground, shaking all over trying to move. All Kyra could do was watch while Zain tortured him.  
  
"I think it's time now." Zain said quietly, "Sands of Time, I give to you thy life!" And with that, Shane's body turned to dust and absorbed just as the Elders had been, and Zain returned to his younger body. He looked at his body to make sure the spell was complete and walked slowly back to the cave. But before he did, he heard the sounds of sobs in a nearby bush. He went back into the cave like it wasn't there, but unknown to even himself; a tear escaped his right eye and rolled down his face.  
  
***  
  
Orphen now continues with his story of 10 years old. Majic and Cleao listen attentively while Leki lay quietly in Cleao's lap, kept silent by her gentle petting.  
  
ORPHEN: Zain was the most powerful sorcerer at the Tower of Fang at that time, but he never got cocky about it once, he was the most humble sorcerer you could ever find. The only problem with his great power was that nothing ever challenged him for very long.  
  
Zain and a Master stood in the middle of the courtyard, where Zain was being trained. Zain looked much different then though, his hair was cut short and his eyes were more carefree and gentle rather than evil. And he did not bear the scar that made him distinguishable. "Now Zain, all you have to do is try to hit this pebble," the hooded Master opened his palm to indicate the small rock "when I throw it into the air, this will help your accuracy."  
  
"Yes Master." said the young Zain. A much younger Orphen and Azalie where watching by sitting on the top battlements. The Master used is power to levitate the pebble, and then launched it into the air. The pebble went so high up not even Orphen or Azalie could see it. But Zain kept his focus and raised both his hands in the air. A blue glow showed he was about to cast his spell.  
  
He then said, "O, Light" and the whole sky illuminated with a bright light of the spell, and the pebble had been completely vaporized by the spell. The Master stood in shock and Orphen and Azalie were in wonder at how Zain could have actually hit the pebble that high up. Knowing where Orphen and Azalie were, Zain made a peace sign toward his friends and winked one eye.  
  
ORPHEN: He would always go from Master to Master, never taking long to learn everything the Master could teach. He seemed to gain more power each day. The Elders decided to send him to Childman to see if maybe he could stay under his tutelage without such little effort. Me, Azalie, Lai, and Hartia were just happy we could see him more, with all of us becoming close friends.  
  
Childman and all of his students, including Zain, were gathered together in a special training room. Childman, standing in the middle of the room, looked over his students in thought. "All right Zain" said Childman in his usual gentle voice," Since you are the new student to my class, let's see what you can do." He indicated a spot across from him to stand in.  
  
Zain quickly obliged to his new Master, anxious to see what new challenge he could take on. He stood straight in front of Childman at attention with a salute. "Master, what do you want me to do?" Zain asked.  
  
Childman chuckled at how obedient Zain was acting. "At ease." Chilman said jokingly, "I'm going to throw a spell at you and we'll see how well you can defend against it." Zain went back to his attentive position and said, "Yes sir! Ready when you are sir!" Childman again chuckled; he was enjoying this new pupil.  
  
"Okay then." Childman said. He positioned himself to cast the spell. He decided to use a stronger spell than what he used on his other students, after hearing the rumors of Zain. Zain put himself into a defensive position for the oncoming assault. "Sphere of Luminescence!" Childman yelled. The spell came at Zain so fast most didn't think Zain would be able to stop it, even Childman.  
  
But at the last second, Zain chanted, "Wall of Reflection!" And as soon as Childman's spell hit Zain's counter-spell, it redirected back to Childman, knocking him flat on his back. Childman's whole class gasped in surprise at what happened.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry Master." Zain said while helping Childman up, "I didn't know the spell would be that powerful!" Childman was still a little dizzy from the match. But he recovered himself and said softly, "Where did you learn that spell?"  
  
Zain stood back up looking proud of himself and Childman sitting down looking up at the young prodigy. "I made a few of my own changes to a spell I was taught a few years ago, you like it?" he explained like it was nothing. Childman couldn't believe what Zain had done. He did nothing but shake his head and smile.  
  
ORPHEN: Childman knew that Zain was far too advanced to be trained with the Masters at the Tower, so he went to the Elders to ask them if Zain could be released to a new school or perhaps be trained by Childman's Master Rox Row. But the Elders did not agree with Childman's proposal.  
  
The floated in there usual places in there room, staring down at Childman with Zain at his side. "We cannot allow Zain to leave the Tower." said one of the Elders. Childman was beginning to grow impatient with the Elders, but hid it from them. "But why?" asked Childman, "Zain can no longer be challenged with our teachings; he may already have exceeded most of the Masters." Childman's voice began to grow louder, angering the Elders.  
  
"Childman," another female Elder said, "if you do not agree with our decision, we will have to consider you a traitor and will have to have you banished." Childman remained silent but did not look scared of the Elders.  
  
"Please, if you are to banish anyone, banish me" Zain pleaded. "You will be silent!" the same Elder shouted. "Zain will continue to study at the Tower until he has completed his full 10 years of the teachings" the first Elder replied.  
  
Childman knew he could not convince them to change their minds, all he could say was, "Yes sir." The Elder smiled triumphantly, knowing that Childman would always remain loyal. "The Elders have spoken, you may leave." Childman and Zain left the Elders, Zain wearing a mask of hate at how the Elders had dismissed them like that.  
  
ORPHEN: I'm not to clear on what happened after that. All I know is that after that, Zain began to study every book he could from the Archives. He never spoke to anyone, and if he did it was never in courteousness, he was always in an impatient and angered voice. But I don't understand how the Elders could have made him that angry.  
  
About 6 months after that, Zain was banned from the Tower, but why nobody knew. Anyone who did know must have kept quiet.  
  
All of the Masters and students were lined up at the gates of the Tower. Zain and his last Master, Childman, walked between the lines of people toward the gates. Zain walked with a cloak on so no one could see his face, as traditional of banishments. Orphen was the only one not standing still in the lines; he was following the two figures toward the gates, calling Zain's name in vain.  
  
Zain and Childman made it to the gates, and Childman stopped while Zain continued walking through the gates. The gates began to close when Zain stopped and looked behind him to take one last look at his home. Orphen peered through the gate to see Zain, eyes now pale and a new scar that could be seen on the left side of his face. And the gates finally closed, sealing Zain from returning.  
  
As Orphen was walking away he remembered something. 'Wait a minute; did he have wrinkles on his face?' And so ends Zain's story.  
  
***  
  
It was late at the Tower of Fang. The full moon gave an eerie glow through the stain glass of the windows. Lai was walking through the halls, studying a book he had gotten from the library.  
  
The halls were silent, most everyone in the Tower were asleep. The only sounds were the clacking of Lai's feet on the stone floors. 'Zain's spell absorbed the Elders power' Lai thought, 'but why does he have this increased aging?' He walked into his own room and dropped the book he was reading at who was in there. Zain was sitting at a desk in the far corner of the room, throwing a crystal ball from each of his hands.  
  
"It's about time you showed up, I was beginning to get bored" said Zain. He slammed the crystal back onto the desk and stood in front of Lai, a half- a-head higher than him. He crossed his arms and smiled at Lai, all while Lai stood scared to make any move.  
  
"How have you been Lai?" said Zain. Lai just stood there, dumb-struck. "I guess you're not going to talk, huh?" asked Zain calmly, like he was just a friend who stopped by for a visit. Still Lai did not talk. "Oh well" he continued, "I didn't just stop for a chat anyways. Now, tell me where Azalie can be found."  
  
Lai snapped back to reality saying, "No, I won't tell you that Zain." Zain shrugged his shoulders and turned around. "And here I was thinking that you would help an old friend out" replied Zain. Lai's nervous feeling began to come back to him.  
  
"I no longer consider you a friend Zain" said Lai, "Not after what you did." Zain turned back around, evil now on his face. Lai began to backup, Zain's cold gaze staring him down. He began to raise his hands as if to attack. Lai felt his heart sink at what might happen.  
  
Zain then quickly put his hands behind his head and turned on one leg like some ditzy teenager. His face now changed to the very definition of friendship. "That's okay I understand Lai" Zain began to walk back to the desk, hands now on his sides. He picked up the crystal ball again and started to study it.  
  
Lai was confused, all he could say was, "It is?" Zain stopped his study of the crystal and directed his attention back to Lai. "Sure it is" he started to toss the ball in his right hand and walking back toward Lai. "I'm sure I can find out another way" he still had his friendly face.  
  
Besides being relaxed, Lai was scared even more from Zain's friendly act. "Yeah, I guess you can can't you?" Lai replied. Lai kept his body and mind alert for anything. Zain was again right in Lai's face.  
  
"Like besides 'asking' you-" Zain grabbed Lai's head before Lai could even react. "-I could simply read your own mind!" he said through gritted teeth. Lai grabbed at Zain's hands to try and free himself from the grip, but to no avail.  
  
"By the way, sorry if my mind-reading technique is a little more painful than yours is!" Zain began his excruciating mind-reading process. Lai screamed in agony as electricity seemed to dance off his head. As Lai screamed in pain, Zain saw everything that had been happening while he was gone.  
  
Pictures of what happened with his old friends flashed in his mind. What they had done and where they had gone, including Azalie's whereabouts. Zain then released Lai and used his power to teleport outside the walls and escape into the forest. When bystanders who heard the screams got to the room, they found Lai on the floor unconscious with his crystal ball shattered right next to him. Also, a book entitled, "The Sands of Time".  
  
***  
  
The night would have been pitch black had it not been for the light from the moon. Orphen stretched out after telling the long story. His face looked like he had just seen a ghost. Majic and Cleao were still sitting to process all they had just heard. Leki was now fast asleep and snoring softly.  
  
"All right you guys, get some sleep" said Orphen quietly, beginning to lay down against a tree, "We'll have to start early tomorrow to make up for lost time." Orphen closed his eyes while Majic and Cleao began to lie down. But before Cleao went to sleep, she went over to Orphen and whispered into his ear, "Don't worry, everything will be all right."  
  
END CHAPTER 03  
  
FOOTNOTE: Phew! It definitely wasn't easy to finish this one, but I think it turned out just how I wanted it to. By the way, I, for lack of a better word, tweaked chapter 2. Not because I'm a perfectionist, but because I was bored. Unfortunately, I'm going to be out of town for Christmas, and I probably won't have a lot of time to finish the fourth chapter. So unless it's up before next Monday, it probably won't be up until sometime in January.  
  
And with that I finish with a Merry Christmas (Or whatever you celebrate.) and a Happy New Year!  
  
Master Kayne 


	4. The Sands of Time Run Down

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow! A new record for me, two months to finish a chapter! Anyways, sorry this took so long, but I've been having the worst case of writer's block for a long time. Hopefully I didn't lose any fans taking so long to finish. For those of you who for some reason don't remember what's been happening, I'll sum up what's going on. Orphen good, Zain bad.  
  
And now (FINALLY!!)...  
  
ORPHEN: THE NEW BEGINNING CHAPTER 04: THE SANDS OF TIME RUN DOWN  
  
Hartia has made it to the gates of the Tower, unaware of what has happened.  
  
Hartia approached the gates of the Tower, glad that it was still standing, not sure of what he expected to see. He put his hands against the gates and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he noticed something out of the left corner of his eye (toward the cliff where the graveyard is.). Many of the Masters and students were gathered and carrying a casket. Hartia felt his heart sink, his fears had come true.  
  
Making his way over to the site, he saw many of the occupants there, mourning the death of a recently passed. He went over to one of the Masters to ask what had happened. "What's going on?" Hartia asked, "I thought we had already held a ceremony for the Elders?"  
  
The Master looked toward him with a sad look on his face. "He got one of the students while you were gone Headmaster." Hartia felt a strong feeling of anger rose in Hartia. How could have Zain sunk this low?  
  
He regained his composure and asked, "Who was it?" He watched with a serious gaze as the casket was slowly lowered into the grave.  
  
"It was Shane, Headmaster." Hartia's head quickly dropped, Shane had been one of his students, and a good friend. He raised his head back up, his eyes showed a deep sadness.  
  
"How is Kyra taking it?" He too knew of their relationship.  
  
"She has not stopped crying since it the tragedy" the Master said, "and she will not leave her room." Hartia felt bad for Kyra, knowing the pain she must be going through. "Headmaster?", Hartia turned to the man. "He also got to Lai"  
  
Hartia was shocked at this. "What happened!?" he asked frantically, "Is he okay!?" Sweat seemed to pour of his forehead.  
  
The Master gestured with his hands for Hartia to calm down. "Calm down, he is still alive" he said, "His body is fine, but mentally..." Hartia was off before the Master could finish his sentence. If Zain got to Lai, than he must know where Azalie is, and that means that she is in deep trouble, Hartia thought while he ran toward the Tower.  
  
The Master Hartia had been talking too watched as Hartia took off. He shook his head and said, "When will this all end?"  
  
***  
  
Orphen, Cleao, and Majic are now just a few short minutes from the Tower...  
  
They had traveled most of the morning in silence. Now mid-afternoon, Cleao couldn't help but speak. "So Orphen, what do you think Zain wants with Azalie," she started to ask, her right hand holding her chin, "I mean from what you said, you guys were great friends. Why would he want to hurt her?"  
  
Orphen tried to think of an answer, but he had none. All he could tell her was, "I don't know, but I guess we'll find out eventually" and that was it. Cleao looked up into the sky and gave a curious hmm, thinking she might be able to figure it out herself.  
  
Meanwhile Majic, walking between Cleao and Orphen, and carrying the luggage, said, "Maybe he doesn't want to hurt her" he said, trying not to fall down with the extra weight, "Maybe he needs her for something". Majic then had an idea, "It might have something to do with his increased age!"  
  
Majic looked over to Orphen and saw that he wasn't even paying attention; he was busy staring at the Jewel of Gigabrias embedded in the back of his necklace. Majic gave a very pathetic look and said, "Oh, come on Master, the least you can do is humor me!"  
  
Orphen blinked and quickly raised his head, as if snapping back to reality. "Huh? Oh sorry, I was just thinking of something", Orphen replied, jewel still in hand  
  
"What is it?" asked Cleao. "Something about Azalie?" she said feeling a little jealous.  
  
"No really, it's nothing" but he continued to stare at the brilliantly shining treasure. I wonder., his thoughts were cut short by Majic.  
  
"Look we're here!" he said, pointing ahead. And there stood the Tower of Fang in all of its glory. "Yep", Orphen said, tightly grasping the necklace, "Home sweet home."  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, in the town of Arystal, an ominous cloaked figure is about to darken the doorsteps of the town's occupants...  
  
"So this is Arystal, a little quainter than I imagined it would be" said Zain at the entrance to the small town. "But I suppose if I wanted to go into hiding I'd choose a place like this too." He walked through the town, watching as children played in the sandy streets and the women beat off rugs and washed clothes. He saw a tavern and figured he'd take a break from searching for Azalie. After all, with Lai out of commission for a while, his "pawns" wouldn't be there for a while.  
  
Going inside, he took a seat the bar, no one noticing he had come inside. These people are so peaceful, they'll trust anyone that comes into town, I can't wait to see the look on their faces when my plan is unleashed, he thought to himself. "So what can I get you stranger?" the bartender asked.  
  
Zain looked up at the wrinkled face of the old man, his gray-white hair almost as silver as Zain's was. "Just some water will do, thank you" Zain replied. The bartender fetched the pitcher for his customer, but looked at him as though he should have bought something a little more expensive. Zain looked at the flesh on his hand, still young. Luckily, that boy from the Tower's youth will keep me going for a long while, thought Zain.  
  
"Here's your drink, sir" said the bartender, placing the water in front of Zain. Zain took the water and placed a shilling on the table. The bartender reached for the shilling, but Zain grabbed it in mid-air and asked, "How would you like to make a little more money?" He held ten shillings in his right hand, still holding the bartender's arm in his left. "Sure, what do you need?" replied the man.  
  
Zain released his arm and placed all ten of the shillings on the bar. "Do you know where I can find a woman named Azalie?" he asked. "Yeah, why? Are you some old boyfriend or something?" replied the old man. Zain smiled at this and said, "Yes, I suppose you could say that."  
  
The man shook his head a little and said, "Don't suppose I can blame you, she is a nice young lady, and it's not like she couldn't use the company, with having a baby and all." Zain took a drink of his water, the refreshing liquid cooling him off almost instantly. "Yes, anyways, where can I find her?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, sorry, she lives around a secluded little place in the forest just north of here" said the bartender. An evil grin crossed Zain's face, not noticeable because of his long cloak. He finished off the water and left the tavern, saying, "Thank you, and you might want to go ahead and spend it all in one place, you never know how much time you have!"  
  
***  
  
Orphen and the others have gained permission to enter the Tower of Fang and are waiting at the main entrance, waiting for Hartia to greet them...  
  
"Just like the Tower to leave you waiting" said Orphen, leaning against a wall in the large room. Majic and Cleao were sitting on a wooden bench while waiting. "Just be glad they actually let us in" Cleao replied to the remark, "I swear I didn't think our luggage would make it in they searched it so many times!"  
  
Majic went ahead and put it in his two cents by saying, "Well I guess with Zain hanging around they don't trust any visitors." Cleao and Orphen both thought about and figured that was reasonable.  
  
"Unfortunately, I don't think we have the pleasure of knowing where Zain is anymore" said a very familiar voice. The party looked toward Hartia, who was standing to their left side.  
  
"What exactly are you talking about Hartia?" said Orphen, now standing erect and staring Hartia dead in the eyes. Hartia lowered his head and sighed. He then replied, "Come with me."  
  
Orphen, Hartia and the others made it to the Tower's clinic, where, aside from about a dozen sorcerers who had tried to attack Zain the day he came, they saw Lai sitting in a chair against the wall. His eyes were wide open and staring straight ahead at nothing, and hi face was completely devoid of emotion. A nurse had been changing the sheets on Lai's bed and now tried to lead him with her hand. Lai didn't even acknowledge she was there; he just kept staring straight ahead. The nurse had finally gotten Lai to his bed, where he now stared up at the wall.  
  
Hartia dismissed the nurse and turned his attention back to the group. "He was attacked by Zain while I was gone," said Hartia, "I don't know any of the details, but apparently, Zain used his powers to look into Lai's mind and find out where Azalie is."  
  
Orphen, Cleao, and Majic couldn't take there eyes off of Lai until Hartia had told them that, Orphen quickly turned his attention back to Hartia and said, "So Zain knows exactly where Azalie is and could find her any second and we can't do a thing about it?" Hartia nodded his head in a slow manner, answering Orphen's question.  
  
"I'm afraid so Orphen," said Hartia, "The only other person who could have known is Lai," pointing out the still body of Lai, "and he won't be much help right now." Hartia went over to a stand next to Lai's bed and picked up a book.  
  
"This is the only thing, aside from a broken crystal, that was found next to Lai when he was discovered", said Hartia, handing the book to Orphen. It read, "The Sands of Time", on the front cover. "I went through the book to see if there was anything that might help us to figure something out about Zain" Hartia explained, "But Zain had torn all the pages pertaining to what we need to know before I could read it" Orphen clenched his fist out of hate of Zain, until a small voice whispered, "Arystal". The whole group gasped in surprise at who had just said that.  
  
Majic looked around to see if there was anyone else around who could have said that. Not seeing anyone, he looked at Lai, and noticed his eyes were now half open and looking at them. Majic pointed a shaky finger at Lai and said in a frightened tone, "I th-think it m-might have be-been Lai!" The whole had thought Majic had gone insane, until they saw Lai again mutter the word, "Arystal".  
  
Orphen thought to himself for a moment and then stared at the dumb- struck Hartia. "Wait a minute Hartia," Orphen almost yelled out, "Isn't Arystal a town near here?" Hartia came out of the shock of hearing Lai actually be able to speak after what he had gone through and grinned a little.  
  
"Yes, that's right" replied Hartia, "It's a small town about a two days walk from here!" Orphen smiled and looked back at Lai, who had slipped back into his wide-eyed look.  
  
"Lai must have been trying to tell us that the whole time" said Majic, "But he couldn't get the strength up until now."  
  
"Yeah, but it looks like he's back to his bug-eyed self again", replied Cleao in a impatient tone.  
  
"Thanks Lai", said Orphen, "Now we know where Azalie is and can save her!" Orphen acted as a restless child ready to go on an adventure. Ready, that is, until a Master came in with two familiar trolls.  
  
"I found these two trying to steal the jewels in the treasure room" the Master said, trying to hold the two so they couldn't get away. Orphen slapped his hand against his forehead and gave an aggravated sigh.  
  
"God, can't we ever get rid of you two!" shouted Orphen. Volkan and Dortin crouched down cowardly, just realizing he was there at that moment.  
  
Volkan stood back up and looked at Orphen with an angered look on his face. "Well, if it isn't the hypocritical sorcerer" said Volkan accusingly.  
  
Orphen had a puzzled look on his face. "What the hell are you talking about now?"  
  
Volkan stared at him as if the answer was obvious. "You're actually going to yell at us about stealing some gems when you know you stole the Jewel of Gigabrias from them yourself!" Lai's head leaned to the right, looking at Orphen.  
  
Orphen turned his charm over to reveal the brilliant jewel. Lai smiled. "I thought I told you that I got this to protect it from the wrong hands?!"  
  
"I told him this was a bad idea Orphen" whimpered Dortin, "Please just hurt him and not me!" Volkan hit his little brother in the head and said, "Dortin, how could you betray your caring and responsible big brother like that!"  
  
Orphen was getting just a little more than annoyed by the two's antics. "I'll tell you what" said Orphen, struggling to stay calm, "I'll tell you of a good place where you can get all the treasure you can imagine!" Majic and Cleao looked at Orphen and wondered what he was talking about, until they saw the way Volkan was drooling, then they knew exactly what he was doing.  
  
"A-all the treasure I can i-imagine!" said Volkan. Orphen was starting to enjoy the fact that Volkan was falling for his trick so easily.  
  
"Yep, all you have to do is come with me!" replied Orphen, looping the two trolls under his arms. And Lai continued smiling.  
  
***  
  
Zain sat deep in thought up in a tree, smiling, very close to where Azalie was hiding...  
  
"So that's where they were hiding it" said Zain to himself. "Who would have guessed it, and to think I wouldn't have figured it out if I hadn't turned Lai into my own personal puppet!" Zain jumped down from the tree he was in, staring at a nearby cabin placed in a clearing in the forest.  
  
"Thanks to my mind control, Orphen and the others will soon be here, and the Jewel of Gigabrias will soon be mine!" Zain grinned evilly as a purple- haired woman stepped outside her cabin.  
  
END CHAPTER 04  
  
FOOTNOTE: I promise you won't have to wait so long for my next chapter. I finally have everything finalized for my story so I shouldn't have so many writer's blocks as I did for this one. Anyway, thank you for the great reviews and I hope you all keep reading. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. 


	5. So Close, So Far

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Why don't we just skip this part and get on with the story?  
  
For your reading pleasure-  
  
ORPHEN: THE NEW BEGINNING  
  
CHAPTER 05: SO CLOSE, SO FAR  
  
Orphen and his group are getting ready to begin for their dangerous journey, but nerves are uneasy.  
  
Orphen and the others stood around the teleportation relic, about to leave for Arystal. Out of the whole group, not one was feeling confident about going, knowing all to well that they would find Zain there.  
  
Hartia looked over to his old friend, who seemed to be hiding his fear quite well, but everyone knew how he must have felt. Hartia opened his mouth to say something, but instead, Cleao was the one to ask the question.  
  
"Orphen, just how do you plan to save Azalie anyway?" she asked. But Orphen just continued to stare into empty space. Cleao lowered her head at how her question had been shot down so easily. But she then looked back at him as he gave a low sigh and looked toward her.  
  
"You know Cleao," he began with a slight grin, "I really don't know, but the answer will come eventually, I'm sure of it!" Cleao wasn't to sure herself if she should be comforted by this or not, but she had a feeling that he would come through like he always had, and that was enough for her. Majic then tried to lighten the mood by asking a less critical question.  
  
"So just where did you tell Volcan and Dortin to go anyways, Master?" asked Majic. Orphen laughed at this, remembering just what he had told the two gullible trolls.  
  
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about them, chances are if they followed what I told them, we won't see them for a while" Orphen replied.  
  
***  
  
Orphen's words had been true, for at that moment, the trolls brothers were making their way to the vast graveyard that stayed to the right of the Tower of Fang.  
  
Volcan and Dortin were quietly walking toward a grave marked with a cenotaph. Volcan was acting casual and fearless about it, walking with shovel in hand. But Dortin was worried that at any second a ghost of a sorcerer might spring up and put a curse on him for walking their graves.  
  
"I really don't think we should be here Volcan," squealed Dortin, "What if we anger one of these spirits or something like that?" Dortin jumped as he thought he heard something in a nearby bush.  
  
Volcan looked sternly over to his brother, but continued walking. "Look, Orphen told us that there we treasure in this old tomb if we dig deep enough under it, so that's what we're going to do!" Volcan yelled impatiently, "Besides, we're already here so we might as well take a look."  
  
The cenotaph was beautifully carved with many markings of runes all around it. Four columns were placed at the four corners of the tomb, all with carvings of stone roses encircling them. Many jewels were embedded on all sides of it. Obviously someone of great importance rested there.  
  
"See?" Volcan stated, "You can't tell me that there is no treasure hidden somewhere in there." Volcan dropped the shovel and walked toward the cenotaph to try and open it. Unfortunately, his small arms couldn't even budge the door. "Hey Dortin, stop hopping around over there and give me a hand" he barked at Dortin.  
  
Dortin immediately ran over to lend his older brother a hand. Of course they still had problems with the door, but with their combined strength, they were able to open it. They both peaked in to take a look inside. But all they saw were a casket and a few more carvings along the wall.  
  
"I don't see anything!" said Dortin. Volcan knocked his brother on the head as if he were an idiot.  
  
"You dummy, Orphen told us we have to dig for it,so," Volcan retrieved the shovel and went back inside the tomb, putting the shovel between two broken rocks on the floor. "Start digging, I'm going to take a nap over there" he said as he walked to nearby wall, "wake me when you're done."  
  
Dortin was slightly annoyed by this, but not all that surprised. And like the loyal little brother he is, he picked up the shovel and started digging. Muttering, "Why me?"  
  
***  
  
Orphen was still laughing quietly leaving everyone else puzzled at what he had done to the brothers. But he finally stopped and looked around at the strange looks he was getting.  
  
"Anyways, I guess we better get going," Orphen finally said. Everyone walked over to the center of the relic, following what Orphen had said. Everyone followed except for Hartia, that is.  
  
"I'm afraid I won't be joining you this time my friend," Hartia replied. The rest of the group turned around in shock after hearing this. But Orphen thought this might happen.  
  
"But why?" Majic and Cleao both yelled out. Hartia walked out of the large wooden double door, saying nothing to the question he had just been asked. Leaving them there alone.  
  
Orphen watched as Hartia left them, understanding why he didn't want to go. "Come on you guys", he said, "I'm sure he has his own reasons for not wanting to come along."  
  
Majic and Cleao went back over to Orphen, still wandering why Hartia backed out, but figured he might have just been scared. They all stood together in the center of the relic as Orphen waved his hands and said, "Arystal". And with that they left in a glowing green flash.  
  
***  
  
Hartia had returned the room that used to belong to his old Master, sitting alone in the darkness.  
  
'Why?' thought Hartia, 'Why did he have to come back now?' The chair creaked as he moved his body forward and sat with his head in his hands. "Zain", he said to himself, "I'm sorry." Hartia then began to cry, as he remembered some painful memory from his past.  
  
***  
  
Zain has been silently waiting for Orphen and the others to come, sitting in a tree near Azalie's cabin.  
  
Normally anyone can see a person sitting in a tree so close to their home. But because of Zain's cloak, he blended in perfectly with the trees, leaving him free to say or do whatever he wanted. "They should be here any time now" Zain said to himself, "I can already sense they used the teleportation relic, so I can probably expect them sometime today." Zain began to smile coldly at the thought of it. "Oh, goody!"  
  
***  
  
Orphen and his friends had finally arrived in Arystal, and are beginning the search for Azalie.  
  
"Well at least it's not a very big place", muttered Cleao. Orphen looked around at the town of Arystal, understanding why Azalie would choose this place to live.  
  
"So Master", Majic said, "Where do we start?" It may have been a small town, nowhere near the size of Alanhaten, but it would still take a long time to search the whole place, and they were on a tight schedule.  
  
"Well, maybe we should try that place over there", Orphen replied, pointing to a nearby tavern, the same one that Zain had gone to.  
  
The group went in and found a very old and broken down bar. Cleao and Majic both grimaced as they noticed the many cobwebs and other things around the place. But Orphen did nothing, as if he had seen worse.  
  
Still the group walked up to the bar and greeted the bartender all the same. Orphen took a seat on a barstool, but Cleao and Majic decided to stand, not wanting to get close to the bar itself. "Sorry about the mess, I'm going to have it remodeled", the kind old bartender said to them, "So what can I get you?"  
  
"Nothing, thanks", said Orphen, "But if you could just tell me something?" Cleao turned blue in the face as a small rat scurried near her.  
  
"Sure, what do you need to know?" the bartender replied. The rat came closer, and Cleao's face became bluer.  
  
"I wanted to know if you knew of someone named-". Orphen was interrupted as Cleao ran out screaming after the rat had ran up her leg. "Oh! Go get her, would you Majic?" asked Orphen. Majic ran out to catch up with Cleao, very happy to be out of that place.  
  
"You seem to have some very jumpy friends there", the bartender said with a sweat drop on the back of his head. Orphen gave a long sigh, as if the bartender didn't know the half of it.  
  
"Yeah, well anyways", Orphen continued, "Do you know about anyone around here named Azalie?" The bartender thought about how he could possibly be asked the same question in such a small amount of time.  
  
"Oh yeah, she lives in a cabin in the middle of the forest on that mountain north of here", the bartender told Orphen. Orphen thanked him and was about to leave when the bartender said, "You know, someone came here not to long ago asking the same thing, strange".  
  
Orphen froze in fear of this and said in a very fearful voice, "Do you remember what he looked like? When did he come here?"  
  
The old man scratched his head trying to remember, and then replied, "Oh, well let's see. I think he had silver hair and blue eyes" Orphen, not even turning around, tightened his fist till his knuckles were white, "And he came in here about yesterday I think" Orphen immediately shot out the door after hearing this, leaving the bartender completely dumbfounded.  
  
Majic was trying to calm Cleao down by keeping her from running any further away, and was still trying to calm her down until Orphen came outside yelling, "Stop messing around you guys, we have to hurry!" The two of them immediately stopped and followed Orphen to wherever he was going. Hoping they weren't too late to save Azalie.  
  
END CHAPTER 05  
  
FOOTNOTE: I know I've said this a lot, but sorry this was so late, I've been having a little bad luck with my computer lately. Not to mention having to worry about this speech contest I'm in (sigh). Anyways, hope you liked this chapter and I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. So long. 


	6. Goose Chase

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, it has been a looooooooooooooong time since I updated. But I've been piled up with homework ever since the beginning of the school year, and as for the summer, well.I.umm.okay I just didn't think about during most of the summer. When I did though, I was always busy, I'm sorry! I hope you guys will still read on from here.  
  
I would like to say fashionably late, but.  
  
Orphen: The New Beginning  
  
Chapter 06: GOOSE CHASE  
  
The sun has started to rise and Hartia walks the stone floors of the tower. Each stone feeling harder than ever.  
  
Hartia's mind finally seemed to be clearing after the intense fears he had. Looking out the a nearby window, he could see the courtyard, taking what seemed forever to melt the ice that clung to every part of the trees and walls in the courtyard. As Hartia saw this view of Zain's power, he couldn't but how helpless the situation seemed to be.  
  
His thoughts continued to slip into hopelessness, until he heard the sounds of a person in deep sadness. Crying as if the person had suffered some deep loss. As Hartia looked toward the room where the crying was coming from, he noticed the name on the door: Kyra. Hartia could not help but feel sorry for Kyra, remember that there are, and possibly would be, others who lost friends and family. But there was no doubt that Kyra had lost much more than that. Much more.  
  
***  
  
Dortin continues his overnight work on digging for the buried "treasure", complaining all the while.  
  
Dortin took a clump of dirt out of the ground after finally getting past the rocks, panting tiredly. But Volcan still continued his deep sleep, accompanied by loud snoring.  
  
"Why do I always have to get stuck doing the dirty work?" said Dortin.  
  
Another clump of dirt was dug out of the ground with Dortin panting greately. But still Volcan continued his sleeping, and his snoring.  
  
"I mean, I'm to everyone, including Volcan, and still get treated like this dirt here!" said Dortin, a little bit of aggravation in his voice.  
  
Another clump of dirt was gone, and Dortin's still went on. While Volcan still slept on.  
  
"What did I do to deserve this? The worst thing I've ever done was squash a fly!" Dortin spoke again with the aggravation ever so slightly.  
  
Another clump, a few more pants, and Volcan still snored.  
  
"I've just gotten so sick of being this way!" Dortin screamed with more anger then aggravation.  
  
A clump of dirt was instead slung, Dortin is now yelling, and Volcan ends up with a huge clump of dirt in his face.  
  
***  
  
Hartia didn't take but one step into the room when he was suddenly stopped by one of the Tower's guards.  
  
"Master Hartia!" the guard exclaimed.  
  
Hartia had been watching Kyra for a while, and now thanks to the guard, Kyra was staring back. He quickly turned his head to face the guard, slightly embarrassed that a student had caught him staring, and more than a little angry at the guard for draing attention.  
  
"What is it!?" Hartia said with a poisonous tone in his voice.  
  
The guard was taken slightly aback by the reaction the usually calm Master was showing. But he quickly regained his composure enough to say,"Y- Yes, well there was a scream outside in the graveyard, probably a little girl by the sound of it."  
  
Hartia, realizing how rude he had just acted said in a calm voice, "Try to find whoever it was and have them sent to the dungeon if it was anyone but a student, we can only assume it is a grave-robber."  
  
The guard left with a quick, "Yes Master", to return to his duties.  
  
After that, Hartia realized Kyra had been staring the entire time and he stepped inside the room.  
  
"Hello Kyra" Hartia said in a comforting voice. Kyra acknowledged the greeting with a nod, but that was all. "I'm if I caused you any discomfort when you saw me staring; I just noticed you were crying and-"  
  
"That's allright" Kyra interrupted, not giving Hartia a chance to continue. "You can sit down, you know," she said in a depressed voice. Hartia had been standing as still as a statue as Kyra had been talking. So he gladly accepted the offer by taking the chair near Kyra's desk and the door, opposite the bed she was sitting on.  
  
"Thank you," Hartia said in a cheerful voice while sitting down in the chair. Kyra did not even seem to notice the remark. With her only movement being turning her head away. She was sitting, arms cossed in her lap, at the foot of the bed on the right side, farthest from Hartia.  
  
Hartia then quickly removed the cheery face. He stood right back up and made a motion toward the door. "So," he said, shutting the door after he realized it was still open. "You miss him, don't you?"  
  
***  
  
Volcan quickly stirred back to consciousness, after a few choice words, that is. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Dortin!?" Dortin quickly dropped the shovel and reeled back into the farthest dark corner of the grave.  
  
"Well-I-I-I mean," he stuttered for a long time. Dortin couldn't exactly find the words he was looking for because of the way the morning sun shone down on Volcan made him look very sinister. And the shovel now in his hands didn't help either.  
  
"I'm tryin' to get a good night, morning, and possibly afternoon rest when you just decide, 'Hey, why don't I wake Volcan up with a huge load of dirt to his face', is that it?!" Dortin kept ranting, shovel now in the air and ready to come down on poor Dortin at a moments notice. And Dortin was rolled up in a fetal position ready for Volcan to do just that.  
  
"Well, I suppose I'll just have to teach you a lesson then!" Volcan continued on, "Don't ever try and hit your big bro-gghh". Volcan was stopped short after being picked up by the same guard who had told Hartia about the scream. And Volcan was now being held at eye-level by the feet, stammering very nervously.  
  
"So, a nosy troll is it?" the guard said, staring with an annoying glare at Volcan, "Well it looks like your going to take a nice trip to the dungeon where you can nose around all day." As the guard started to walk back to the Tower, Dortin crawled out of the cenotaph and into the sunlight. While he had been cowering in the dark corner from Volcan the guard had not noticed him.  
  
After Dortin realized what had happened, he started to smile and laugh with joy. Shouting out loud, "I'm free! Free! At last I'm free", Dortin leaped around the cenotaph and did what looked like a dance. After a short while though, he stopped and looked in the direction had been taken. His arms quickly dropped to his sides and he let out a big sigh, saying, "Aw, who am I kidding? I'm coming Volcan." With that he started to run to where his brother had gone.  
  
***  
  
Orphen, Majic and Cleao had been searching the woods for a few hours now. Well, not so much searching as there was running. Majic had met more than his share of tree branches along the way and Cleao was having a hard time keeping up with Orphen's breakneck pace. But she had finally had enough.  
  
"All right! That's it Orphen!" Cleao's loud scream had brought Orphen back to them and he quickly turned around to face them with a surprised look on his face. "We've been running around in these woods for well over an hour now", continued Cleao, "And you haven't even told us why we're running around out here and now I'm sick of it!"  
  
Majic had finally caught up, the large pack on his back present, enough to hear Cleao's screaming. "And let's not forget I'm the one with all the bags here", Majic complained, "AND, I've got so many splinters in my face I can't even count them!"  
"Whatever it is Orphen," Cleao started up again, "I'm sure it can't be important enough to send us running aimlessly into the woods for hours!" Cleao then realized something, "Or is it?"  
  
Orphen looked into both his apprentice's splinter ridden face and the face of the girl who he used to think for a long time was just there to annoy him. "The bartender at that saloon said he saw a man who looked like Zain looking for Azalie" Orphen said with his voice relatively calm, "He has a full day ahead of us and he might hurt Azalie if we don't find her."  
  
"Well we better hurry then!" Majic spouted out. Orphen about fell over when heard Majic say this. Cleao just put a hand to her face as if she had a headache.  
  
Orphen quickly recovered from Majic's stating of the obvious and gave an aggravated sigh. "What do you think we've been doing this entire time!?" Orphen said through clenched teeth. Orphen looked as if he was ready to pounce and Majic quickly put his hands up in defense with a scared look on his face.  
  
Cleao removed her hand from her face and said in a calm voice, "I would like to say you're usually patient Orphen, but." Cleao never finished her sentence, but Leki, who had been inside Cleao's backpack while they were running, appeared and seemed to smell something in the air. "What is it boy" Cleao asked Leki. The small wolfen looked into the air and gave a loud bark to show what he had smelt, smoke.  
  
"Master, do you think some things on fire" asked Majic, putting down his arms since Orphen didn't seem as mad now.  
  
Orphen looked up at the smoke and replied, "No, it's too thin to smoke from a forest fire. It's probably just coming from a campfire." Orphen's eyes widened after it dawned on him where the smoke might be coming from. 'Azalie' he thought, and quickly took off again without telling Majic or Cleao what was going on.  
  
"Orphen, wait up!" Cleao shouted after Orphen. Cleao and Majic then, for the second time that day, tried to catch up with the fast sorcerer.  
  
***  
  
Kyra looked into the floor after what Hartia had asked her. Miss him? That didn't even come close to how she felt about how bad she felt about losing Shane. They had been together so long she had not even thought of how she would felt if he was gone. She longed for him and felt that she would do anything to have him come back.  
  
She brought her green eyes up to meet Hartia's gold ones. His red hair seemed to glow crimson in the morning light in much the same way it was probably doing to hers too. She was surprised to hear the question come from him, never knowing how many people knew of the couple's relationship. Still, miss him?  
  
Kyra gave her answer in one simple word, "Yes".  
  
***  
  
Azalie was reading one of the many newly acquired books she had in her cabin. She read the book out loud, as if she were reading it to the baby in her now swollen stomach.  
  
"The brave warrior approached the evil king's castle showing no fear", she read on. She thought of the kinds of books she used to read at the Tower. Each one read just so she could gain more and more power. Azalie was happy that she could read such entertaining books now, especially reading to the one she so dearly loved.  
  
Suddenly, she heard a noise from outside in the woods and she slowly put the book down and got up to check the noise. When she made it to the window, she noticed three people looking around at the edge of the clearing. When they spotted the cabin and started to move toward her home, her first thought was they were thieves. But she then noticed the faces of one of the crowd, the face of an old childhood friend.  
  
After noticing the first person, the other two's faces came quickly to her mind. Her deep red eyes filled with joy as she smiled about seeing the one person who had always been by her side as a child. And one of the few people who cared for her while she was that monstrous Bloody August.  
  
Her mouth formed the words as she spoke the name, "Krylancelo".  
  
END CHAPTER 06  
  
FOOTNOTE: I was going to make this chapter a little longer, but staring at a computer screen is bad for your eyes, you know. They end up looking like this@_@. Anyways, hope some of you are out there reading, sorry if you had to reread the other chapters to remember what was going on. I would like to thank Seeker() for helping me through with the reviews to help me start back on this story. It's true I was lazy during the summer. But, as luck would have it, I ended up doing about five projects in my classes when I started the story again. Well, since its Christmas vacation I should be able to get at least one more chapter out before school begins. Thanks again, Seeker(). Since I know everyone has been dying to do it, please review. Or if you want to, flame me, it was pretty late after all. 


	7. Reunions Abound

No AUTHOR'S NOTE this time, just read!  
  
Orphen: Forgotten Past  
  
Chapter 7: Reunions Abound  
Volcan had spent the majority of his morning resting quietly in the dungeon he now occupied-well, maybe not so quietly...  
  
"Hey! What the hell kind of food does this joint have, I'm starving", Volcan yelled to the guard watching him as he was actually holding on to the bars as a monkey would do trying to escape a cage.  
  
The guard, obviously irritated by Volcan's antics, approached Volcan and, bellowing at Volcan, said, "You'll get food when I say you can and you'll like it even if it's gruel because, if you hadn't noticed, you are in a dungeon and in my care as a prisoner so," the guard moved in even closer at Volcan, almost butting heads to yell, "SIT DOWN, BE QUIET AND STOP ANNOYING ME!"  
  
Volcan's face didn't change at all and he calmly answered, "Make me". Volcan ended up at the other side of the dungeon with an imprint of the guard's staff running vertically along his face.  
  
As Orphen hastily approached the lone cabin, he noticed a figure exiting from the front door. The moment Orphen noticed the purple hair, red eyes, and plump belly of the figure, his legs began to carry him even faster than before as he almost tackled Azalie with his momentum when he met her at the doorway. Cleao, who had reached the house at a close second bent down to catch her breath as she struggled to not fall over; Majic then came up at a far-off third struggling to crawl under the weight of the bags he was carrying.  
  
After Cleao had finally caught a little of her breath back she said, still gasping, "Why do you always have to run so fast!?" Cleao then regained her composure and looked to see both Orphen and Azalie in a loving embrace, and Cleao saw something that she had rarely, if ever, seen before, or anyone else she was sure. Tears were now flowing from Orphen's eyes.  
  
Volcan had been unconscious for a little while, which, in turn, allowed the guard to catch up on some sleep he had missed while both catching and watching Volcan through a good portion of the night. Luckily for Dortin, he remained that way even while he whispered to try and wake Volcan.  
  
"Volcan, hey, Volcan, wake up!" Dortin whispered quietly through the bars above the wall Volcan was laying on. Dortin looked around at where he was and found a good sized rock to wake his brother. He dropped the stone down through the bars and successfully connected with Volcan's jaw. Volcan then leaped out of slumber, rubbing his jaw and moaning in pain.  
  
"Who the Hell just did that!" he snarled, "I swear if I find out who did that I'm going to make sure they-", Volcan was then quickly interrupted by his brother urging him to be quiet.  
  
"Volcan, calm down and be quiet, do you want to get in more trouble?" indicating the sleeping guard with the point of his finger.  
  
Volcan then turned around to see the guard who had been watching him stirring slightly in a deep sleep. "You call that trouble, why I could take that jerk with one hand tied behind my-ouch!" Volcan suddenly felt a blunt force at the back of his head. He slowly turned around rubbing his head in anger as he looked at Dortin. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR, DORTIN!" Volcan bellowed at his younger brother.  
  
"Ssssshhhhh!" Doritn almost hissed from the stress of trying not to wake the guard. He indicated the object he had thrown in to Volcan by pointing to the ground. It was the shovel they had used to dig at the cenotaph.  
  
Volcan picked up the shovel with both hands in anger and whispered; seething at Dortin, "And what am I supposed to do with this, dig my way out!?"  
  
Dortin gave a quick nod and replied, "Yup, that is, unless you want to spend the rest of your life in a rotting dungeon"  
  
Volcan was taken slightly aback by this but quickly regained composure and returned with, "Well here's an idea, why don't you do the digging and I wait till you rescue me." Volcan was now gnashing his teeth with the mood he had been put in.  
  
Dortin thoughtfully replied back to this with, "Well who would you rather have doing the digging", Dortin made sure to sound innocent around this statement, "your weak, defenseless brother, or the strong, masculine troll you are!?"  
  
Dortin had succeeded in stroking Volcan's ego in just the right way. Volcan had lost all negative feelings after this. He dropped the shovel he was so tightly holding and began stroking his hair and then feeling his muscles as he said, "Well, I suppose I have been working out a lot more!" Volcan stopped what he was doing with a strange look at thinking how weird he must have looked then.  
  
Volcan then looked back at his brother with newfound determination in his voice. "All right, you just wait right there my weak little brother and I'll be out there in no time!" Volcan then concentrated on the stone floor below him. He gave his arms a good stretch and cracked his knuckles a few times before grabbing onto the stones in the floor in a strive to yank them out.  
  
Dortin then turned away from the bars and his brother and put his back to the wall. He then slouched down with a sigh of relief.  
  
Hartia smiled at the answer she had given him. He removed himself from the doorway of the room now only lit by the morning light coming from the small window in her room. He then sat down at the foot of the bed right next to Kyra. The whole time she had never taken her eyes off of him, and she did not stop now. Hartia placed his hand on her right shoulder and said the only words he could think to calm her. "Let it all out."  
  
Kyra's eyes then seemed to bulge with tears as she quickly buried her face into Hartia's cloak to take in comfort. Hartia had removed his hand from her shoulder as she had made this motion and now rested his hands on her back, as if giving comfort to a puppy that had just lost her mother.  
  
Azalie had been hugging Orphen for quite a while now and she had begun to notice. "Uh, Krylancelo, I know it's been a little while since we've seen each but it hasn't been that long" Azalie giggled a little at her own comment. Orphen had then been knocked out of his trance by this. He released Azalie from his grasp and took notice of Azalie's beauty.  
  
Her hair had grown to its old length of when she was a teen, only it was now done in a braid going down her back. The months of carrying a child had caused her belly to grow to a much larger size, but this had hardly been paid any mind by Orphen as he looked on. After all this time, Azalie still seemed to be capable of making Orphen blush.  
  
Orphen began embarrassingly rubbing the back of his head and said, "Oh, yeah, sorry about that," his force began shaking, "I-I just kind of got caught up in the moment, you know." He then began laughing slightly. But he was quickly interrupted by the pain of Cleao's heel burying itself into his right foot.  
  
Cleao then irritatingly said, "Say, lover boy, why don't you get to the reason why we're here already!" Cleao then released Orphen from her "foothold" and allowed him to speak again.  
  
Orphen recovered from the pain and became all business as he asked, "Right, uh, Azalie, would you mind if we came inside to talk?" Azalie seemed a little puzzled at what had just occurred, but smiled all the same at her old friend.  
  
"Why, sure you can" answered Azalie, "I'll put some coffee on while we talk". Orphen, Cleao, and Azalie headed inside of the cabin, leaving Majic on the ground; while Leki licked his face as if rubbing salt in the wound.  
  
"Uh, guys?"  
  
It had been a few hours since Dortin's had given the shovel to his brother for the escape, and he had now fallen asleep. That is, until the ground collapsed under him and knocked him to the side.  
  
Volcan's upper body was now popping out of the hole he'd made like a gopher, shovel in hand. He yelled put triumphantly, "Hah, no prison can hold the likes of Lord Volcan Polkano!" Volcan then dropped the shovel and used his hands to make the final push to remove himself from the ground. He then took a long stretch, laughing in victory the whole time and looked around. "What's wrong with you" he asked curiously when he finally noticed his brother.  
  
Dortin couldn't help but have a shocked look on his face at his brother actually escaping. "B-b-b-ut h-how did y-you make it o-out" he asked, stutteringly wildly.  
  
Volcan had a look of pure confidence on his face as he answered, "That's easy," Dortin grew more attentive of Volcan, "because I'm the Great Lord Volcan Polkano!" Dortin collapsed in surprise of this, surprised at himself for not already guessing he would say that.  
  
Dortin then recovered and said, "Well at any rate, since your free now we should probably leave now." Dortin was already on his way to the north gate when Volcan stopped him with his voice.  
  
"Leave!? Are you joking!? They must pay for what they have done to me", the old Volcan seemed to be again rising to the surface, "by us stealing all the treasures in their treasure room." Yup, the old Volcan alright.  
  
Dortin was stunned at this and quickly told him, "Are you crazy, haven't you learned from all the other times we've ever been to this place and tried to steal from it". Old memories from the library incident, the Bloody August, and just a few hours ago even, started appearing in his head. "Oh, yeah, and what do you mean by us?" Dortin added to his statement.  
  
Volcan had completely ignored the last part of what Dortin had said, but still listened to his first part, "I don't care what happened back then because this is a new beginning for us," he threw a few punches at the air to accentuate his next statement, "I feel stronger than ever, like I could just lift that treasure room over my head and empty the treasure out myself!" Volcan continued his optimistic rant as all Dortin could do was listen and break down in tears at the thought of again trying to steal from the Tower.  
  
Volcan had begun a maniacal laugh toward the end of his speech. But that now came to an abrupt stop, "But before we do that-" Volcan turned back to Dortin with an angered glare in his eye. Then, in the flash of an eye, had Dortin in a strangle hold, yelling, "So, you thought you could throw dirt in my face, leave me to get caught by a guard, hit me in the back of the head, AND make me do my own digging and still get away with it!?"  
  
Dortin struggled to breathe in Volcan's hold, but still managed to get out the sentence, "It's good to you to Volcan."  
  
END CHAPTER: 7  
  
FOOTNOTE: Very sorry this chapter was so late getting out but let me just say school sucks, chores suck, and computers, sometimes, suck, although my computer has been sucking more often lately. Anyways, I want to say thanks to those who reminded me I'm still writing a story for you people, the support really helps. By the way, if you'll notice, the name of the story on this chapter has been changed. No, that's not a typo, it's a new title I was thinking of giving this story. You see, New Beginning was just something I came up with at the spur of a moment; I feel Forgotten Past seem to fits this story more, though. But maybe I'm wrong, let me know what you think in reviews and I'll go by the most popular vote. Hopefully it will also show me that more than just Seeker() and Larka Vanimedle() are reading my story too. 


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